UPDATED: Campus Carry Bill Passes Out Of Committee

UPDATE: The House committee holding hearings on four separate bills that would allow Texans that have concealed handgun licenses to bring their weapons into buildings and dormitories on college and university campuses, moved a bill that would do just that to the entire House by a vote of 5-3.

The vote, which was widely expected to happen at a later date, came after almost six hours of sometimes contentious questioning and debate, even though the outcome was never in doubt.

The bills opponents — primarily from the staff and students at the colleges where handguns would now be allowed — had some hope earlier today that the bills backers would allow several amendments to lessen the potential impact on campuses.

The House Calendars Committee has not scheduled a date for the entire House to take up the motion. It’s expected to easily pass the House, in large part due to the overwhelming Republican majority in the body.

A previous effort to pass such legislation in 2009 failed in the House, after it was caught up in Democratic efforts to chub the Voter ID bill to death.

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EARLIER:
The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety held its first hearing on four different bills that would allow those with concealed handgun licenses to bring their weapons into university buildings and dormitories.

The early portions of the hearing were heavily attended by supporters and opponents of the bill, although the AP’s Chris Tomlinson reports that the crowd now is rather dominated by college students and university staff who oppose the measure.

Pro-gun activists who support the bill and call it a natural extension of the state’s current policy and claim that allowing CHL holders to have these licenses will make campuses safer as well as allowing Texans to defend themselves when attacked.

“They trust me to go to school but y’all don’t trust me to protect myself if that time comes?” said Edwin Sheppard, a 26 year old student at Texas Tech, who served as a Marine in Iraq. “But with everything I’ve been through, I don’t have the ability to protect myself if I’m in the library.”

Opponents of the measure point out that crime on college and university campuses is low and that campus areas tend to be among the safest in Texas when it comes to violent crime statistics.

Still they openly admitted that there was little chance of them being able to derail passage of this legislation as they had been able to in the past.

“I fully expect that conceal carry [on campuses] will become law in the state of Texas,” said Bill Holda, the chairman-elect of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, which opposes the measure. “”

He said that opponents of the bill would work with the authors to attempt to find ways amend the legislation that would lessen the impact it could have on college and university campuses.